Honors World Studies
2015-2016
Mrs. Hornstein
Summer Reading Assignment
Welcome to 9th grade Honors World Studies. Next year we will be
embarking on an exciting voyage through time, one that will take us from
C.E. 1450 to the present. We will meet a great variety of cultures and
peoples; we will witness terrible tragedies and inspiring triumphs of the
human spirit. We will encounter ideas that have changed the course of
history and spoken profoundly of the human condition- ideas that people
have believed worth dying for. Above all, we will encounter change, for
that is what history is all about. How do people effect changes in their
lives? How do they react to changes that are forced upon them? How do
they interpret the changes that threaten familiar patterns of life? Do
they welcome change, or flee from it? Explaining and interpreting
change is what the historian does. You will encounter plenty of examples
of change and interpretation as you move through this course; if your
encounters help you understand changes that are happening in our own
society, and around the world today, then the time you spend with world
history will be a valuable lifetime investment.
In September we will begin with the major change in European
culture and politics known as the Renaissance. To fully understand why
this time period is such a turning point in European history, it is
important to understand what Europe was like prior to this era. The
time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the modern
era is known as the Middle Ages, or medieval period, in Europe. The
following assignment will help you understand the complex
characteristics of this time period. You should be familiar with all of the
listed vocabulary words (but you don’t have to formally define each one).
I encourage you to read the packet carefully, highlighting and taking
notes as you analyze the era, and thinking about the focus questions.
The very last page of the assignment needs to be completed formally by
you. This includes: Check for Understanding Using Words (10 terms);
Reviewing Facts (10 questions); Thinking Critically (2 questions); and
Writing About It (write a half page). Follow the directions and write in
full and complete sentences when appropriate. Type up your work using
Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced and print out your
work. Use a proper heading. This work will be collected and you are
responsible for the information presented here and will be evaluated on
your knowledge in September.
Additionally, I would encourage you to read a reliable news source
on a regular basis to keep up with major international events this
summer. It is helpful for your success in studying history, in college and
in your future. The Daily News, New York Post and AM New York do
NOT qualify as good newspapers. Check out one of the following sites:
a. http://www.nytimes.com/
b. http://www.iht.com/
c. http://www.economist.com/
d. http://english.aljazeera.net/
e. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/
If you enjoy reading and would like some suggestions for summer
reading, check these out:
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat
by Michael Pollan
(Young Readers’ Edition)
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial
Africa by Adam Hochschild
Buja's Diary by Se-yong O
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Chasing Ghosts by Paul Reickhoff
Daughter of the Ganges by Asha Miro
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Color of the Sea by John Hamamura
English, August: an Indian Story by Upamanyu Chatterjee
Anahita's Woven Riddle by Meghan Nuttall Sayres
I look forward to seeing you in September! If you have any
questions over the summer, I can be reached at [email protected].
Please give me a few weeks to respond- I have a busy summer planned!
Kind regards,
Mrs. Hornstein
The Middle Ages Brings Changes to Europe
SECTION 1
READING FOR A PURPOSE
Look for these important words:
Key Words
• Middle Ages
Germanic Tribes
• Pope
Scholars
• Plunder
Shrines
• Crusaders
Crusades
• Pope Urban II
Holy Roman Empire
Chieftains
Vikings
Turks
Charlemagne
Look for answers to these questions:
1. What peoples from northern Europe took over the Roman Empire?
2. Why is the leader Charlemagne considered a great ruler?
3. Who were the Vikings?
4. How did the Crusades change European thinking?
A Time of Wars
The period known as the Middle Ages lasted from about A.D. 500 to 1500. It began as the Roman Empire
fell to groups of people from an area in or near what is now Germany. In time five of these groups, known as
Germanic tribes, controlled most of Europe.
The Visigoths, who had conquered Rome, held most of the Iberian Peninsula (where Spain now is located). The
Vandals controlled North Africa and the large Mediterranean islands. The Ostrogoths had taken over most of
Italy and the western Balkans. The Saxons conquered the southern part of what is now England. The
Franks controlled much of the Roman province of Gaul, now France and western Germany,
The Germanic tribes did not govern these large areas as single countries. Each tribe had many leaders, called
chieftains. Each chieftain ruled only as much land as his warriors could defend. The Germanic tribes
spread fear and destruction at first. Gradually, however, they learned the ways of their more civilized
neighbors. Chieftains often preserved or imitated Roman forms of government. Many Germanic people
became Christians. They brought new life to the lands of a dying empire.
Charlemagne
The man who came closest to recreating the Roman Empire
during the early Middle Ages looked every bit the king he was. In a
time when most warriors were a little over 5 feet tall, he was 6 feet 4
inches His broad shoulders and straight posture seemed to show his
strong will.
The king's name was Charlemagne. The name means "Charles the
Great." In 768 he became king of the Franks, the tribe that gave
France its name. Later, Charlemagne conquered large parts of
Germany and Italy.
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Charlemagne had close ties with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope. Both Charlemagne and
his father had helped popes defend Rome. In 800 Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the head of lands
later called the Holy Roman Empire and gave him the title of "Augustus."
In Charlemagne's time, very few people could read and write. Most of those who could were priests. A few
were scholars, who worked for kings or nobles. Charlemagne respected learning. He encouraged scholars from
all over Europe to come to his court. He set up schools for his nobles and their sons.
He urged priests throughout his empire to teach "all those who with God's help are able to learn."
Charlemagne had a strong desire to rule fairly. He dictated many letters to his nobles, giving instructions about
government, law, religion, education, and trade. He sent royal messengers to find out how well his
government was working. Charlemagne also traveled around his lands to make sure his people were treated
justly.
Once or twice a year Charlemagne met with his major officials. Spring meetings called the Fields of May
became famous. They were festivals for Charlemagne's followers. In a pasture filled with flowers, Charlemagne
set up a small city of tents and consulted with his officials. In his concern for strong, wise government,
Charlemagne was like Augustus, the emperor of Rome. Charlemagne's peaceful rule was the high point of the
early Middle Ages.
The Vikings
Before Charlemagne's death in 814, fierce warriors called Vikings
threatened the security of his empire. The Vikings came from the north,
from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. At first the Vikings were
interested mostly in plunder, or goods taken by force. They sailed along
coasts and far up European rivers in their dragon-headed ships.
Wearing leather helmets, the Vikings carried double-edged swords and
round shields. These sailors were so tough that they slept on the open
decks of their ships even in the freezing storms of the North Sea.
When the Vikings arrived at a town, they usually attacked its church first. They took religious objects made of
gold and silver. Then they raided the homes of the townspeople and farms. By the middle of the tenth century,
raids became fewer as the Vikings developed other interests. Some Vikings became traders, sailing as far
as Constantinople and what is today the Soviet Union. They contributed knowledge of trade routes and
sailing to the people they met. Some Vikings were explorers. They made the journey to North America about
500 years before Christopher Columbus did. Other Vikings became colonists, setting up farms and towns in
countries they had attacked. Many of these colonists became Christians. The Vikings, like the Germanic
tribes before them, became part of Europe's settled communities. The Vikings both enriched and were
absorbed by the lands they raided.
The Crusades
Pope Urban II stared in amazement at the crowd in the town square of Clermont,
France, one day in 1095. He saw far more people than he had expected. Not just
nobles and armed warriors, but common people, too— men, women, and children—
had gathered to hear his words.
Pope Urban spoke to the crowd about the city of Jerusalem and other Christian shrines,
or holy places, in the Middle East. Many Christians had journeyed to these sacred
sites. Now Jerusalem and the other holy places were in the hands of the Muslim Turks.
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The Turks were a mountain people who had
been slaves of the Arabs until about the year
1000. Then they began to rebel.
Soon they managed to capture the entire Arab
Empire, including Jerusalem. In that holy city
they neglected ancient shrines and prevented
Christians from visiting them. The Turks often
robbed or even killed Christian visitors.
Jerusalem, Urban said, must be freed from the
Turks. The Christian empire of Byzantium also
needed help in fighting these "unbelievers."
Who would go to war for this holy cause?
"God wills it! God wills it!" thousands of voices
shouted. The nobles and peasants vowed on the
spot to rescue Jerusalem and Byzantium from the Turks. The excited volunteers tore strips of cloth from their
cloaks. They pinned the cloth strips to their tunics in the shape of a cross. Because these people "took the
cross" as their sign, they were called crusaders. The wars they fought were called Crusades.
There were eight major Crusades between 1095 and 1291. Some Crusades were People's Crusades. Whole
families left their homes and set out for the Middle East. Not only French but also English, German, and
Italian crusaders marched to battle. Even two armies of children took up arms and set out for the Holy Land
in what became known as the Children's Crusades. Most of these children died of hunger and sickness or were
captured and sold into slavery before they ever saw Jerusalem.
The skilled warriors of the larger Crusades had better luck. They
captured Jerusalem in 1099 and held it until 1187. They also
took other Middle Eastern lands away from the Muslims. In
the thirteenth century, however, the Muslims reclaimed these
lands.
The Crusades changed European thinking even more than they
changed Middle Eastern land ownership. Some crusaders
gained a new respect for the Muslims. They found that the best
of the Muslim leaders were civilized and well educated. The
crusaders even developed a liking for many parts of Muslim
culture. Crusaders learned to season their food with Eastern spices. They began to dress in silk clothing.
When they returned home, taking Eastern goods with them, a demand for such goods developed in
Europe. This demand encouraged the growth of trade, which helped cities to grow.
Reading Check
1. What groups took over most of Europe after the fall of Rome?
2. Which king's rule was the high point of the early Middle Ages?
3. Why did many Europeans fear the Vikings?
Think Beyond
What do you think was the most important result of the Crusades?
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SECTION 2
Life on a Manor and Feudalism
Reading for a Purpose
Look for these important words:
Key Words
serfs
page
squire
feudalism
manor
chivalry
vassals
knights
fiefs
Look for answers to these questions:
1. How did people gain protection from danger in the Middle Ages?
2. How did peasants live during the Middle Ages?
3. How did nobles live during the Middle Ages?
4. How were noble warriors of the Middle Ages trained?
Life on Farm and Manor
Most people in the first half of the Middle Ages lived in constant
danger of attack by Vikings, bandits, or warriors from neighboring
kingdoms. Because of this danger, a system grew up in which strong people protected weaker ones. In
return for this protection, the weaker people gave loyalty, farm labor, and military service. The following
story shows how a farmer may have felt about this system.
Loyalty and Protection
Kneeling, Boniface clasped his hands as if in prayer. He looked up at the lord
who stood over him. The lord was dressed in a fine purple jacket, black knee
breeches, and leather slippers. Boniface wore a loose tunic. He placed his
clasped hands inside the lord's open palms. Next, placing his right hand on a
Bible, Boniface said,” Whatever in life I do, I swear to be thy man. Thou art
my lord."
The lord gave Boniface a clod of earth. The earth represented Boniface's small
farm. When Boniface swore his oath, he gave the ownership of the farm to the
lord in return for the lord's protection. By giving Boniface the clod of earth, the
lord granted him the right to farm the land. The lord now owned the land, but
Boniface thought this was a small price to pay for security. He knew that he,
his wife, and their two children would be safer as part of a larger, stronger
group.
When Boniface returned home, his wife and children were waiting anxiously.
"Things will be different now," Boniface promised them. "I have sworn for the
lord. Let Vikings or bandits come. We will be ready!"
Feudalism
The system of loyalties and protections in the Middle Ages was called
feudalism. It began around 800 and lasted until about 1300. Feudalism can be
pictured as a pyramid. Everyone owed loyalty and service to a king, who was
at the top of the pyramid.
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Below the king came powerful noble families, who
controlled most of the land. Lesser nobles, called
vassals, owed loyalty to the more powerful nobles.
In return for military service, the nobles and kings
gave the vassals gifts of land. These lands were
called fiefs.
At the bottom of the pyramid were the peasants,
who farmed the land. Some owned their small
farms. Many others were serfs, who lived and
worked on land belonging to nobles or to the
Church. Serfs were treated only slightly better
than slaves. Their lord could not sell them or give
them to someone else, but the serfs were not
free. They had to stay on the land all their lives,
no matter which lord owned the land.
Life in a Village
Most villages in the Middle Ages were very small.
About 200 or 300 people, mainly peasants, lived in each village. Villages were located on a manor a large
estate or farm belonging to a noble family. Most villagers never traveled from the manor.
The only two large buildings on most medieval manors were the manor house, where the lord and his
family lived, and the church. A village usually included the homes of peasants, a mill, barns, fields, and a
pasture for the villagers' livestock. Woods often surrounded a village and its lands.
Peasants lived in small cottages made of mud and straw plastered over a timber frame. The roof was made
of hay twisted into bundles. The floors were dirt. There were usually two windows covered with oiled
paper. The cottages were dark inside and smoky from cooking fires.
Villagers made almost everything they needed. Women wove cloth
and sewed. Blacksmiths made farm tools and weapons. Carpenters
built houses and furniture. Being able to make or trade for the
things they needed, villagers seldom left the manor. Most peasants
never traveled more than a short distance in their lifetimes.
Beginning around Charlemagne's time, new farming methods and
tools helped villagers grow more food. The kind of plow the
Romans had used was not strong enough to turn the heavy soil of
northern Europe. Now, however, farmers began to use an irontipped plow that dug deeply into the earth. Pulled by oxen, these
new plows turned up rich soil over much larger areas of land.
More land could be planted and harvested. Instead of planting
their fields the same way each year, farmers learned to divide their
fields into three parts. They planted one part with wheat or other
grain crops. They planted a second part with peas or beans. They
left the third part unplanted.
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Each year the planting in the fields was changed. The previous year's unplanted field was planted with
wheat. The wheat field was planted with peas. The pea field was left empty. In this way the soil would
not wear out.
Holidays were almost the only relief that the peasants had from their hard work. The biggest holidays
came at key points in the seasons. There was Christmas in midwinter, for example, and Easter in spring.
During the holidays the villagers sang, danced, or played a game something like football. Often the lord
gave a great feast to which all the villagers were invited.
Manor and Castle
During most of the Middle Ages, nobles' manor houses were not much
more comfortable than the cottages of serfs. Dogs pawed through dirty
straw on the floors of the great hall. Cold drafts blew in through
glassless windows.
If a lord lived in an area that was raided often, he might build a castle
as well as a manor house. The central part of the castle was a thickwalled tower called the keep. People could store supplies in the keep
and live there for months if necessary. An open courtyard lay outside
the keep. The lord's warriors and their horses stayed there. Villagers
could run to this courtyard if the village was attacked.
A high wall surrounded the keep and courtyard. Outside the wall was a
deep, water-filled ditch called a moat. If the castle's defenders wanted
to let someone in, they lowered a drawbridge.
Nobles led a richer life after the eleventh century. Wealthy families
began to enjoy fine goods from the east. They dressed in silks, furs,
and cloth embroidered with gold thread. They had great feasts. In fine weather they went hunting or boating.
Knights
Armored horsemen called knights became important in warfare after the middle
of the eighth century. The training of knights was a major part of the lives of
nobles. At the age of seven, a noble's son went to the home of another noble to
begin training. First he became a page. He carried messages and waited on the
Lord’s Table. He learned to ride, to hunt with a falcon, and to use small swords.
At about age 15, the page became a squire. The squire was the servant of a knight
at the lord's court. He helped the knight put on his armor. He took care of the
knight's horse and weapons. In return, the knight taught him advanced fighting
skills.
The squire became a knight at about age 21. He promised to fight for his lord,
defend the Christian Church, and protect anyone who needed his help. In a
special ceremony the lord tapped him on the shoulder with a sword. The young
man was then a knight.
Knights became less useful in war during the late Middle Ages. Their armor became so heavy that they
could not move easily. Trained foot soldiers fighting with spear like pikes, crossbows, and powerful
longbows easily defeated them.
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Knights remained an important part of the nobility's social
life, however. They fought fake battles at entertainments
called tournaments. Nobles also enjoyed songs, poems,
and stories about knights. The knights in the stories
followed certain rules for honorable behavior. These rules
were called the code of chivalry.
The code of chivalry said that knights should protect and
honor women. Women in the Middle Ages were treated as
helpless beings. They were simply possessions of their
fathers or their husbands. Even noblewomen had few
rights and little control over their lives.
Reading Check
1. What system of loyalties governed people in the Middle Ages?
2. Who ranked highest in the society of the Middle Ages? Who ranked lowest?
ARMOR
Knights and other soldiers during the Middle Ages wore many different
kinds of armor. At first, armor consisted of specially treated leather worn
on the legs, chest, and arms. The leather armor offered knights some
protection in battle, but it provided no defense against blows from heavy
metal swords.
Later, leather armor was combined with chain mail. Chain mail was a
type of armor made of small loops of iron or steel. A suit of chain mail
resembled a long shirt that was slit up the middle. The suit offered
protection against swords while still allowing a soldier's legs to move.
Chain mail was heavy, but it was almost as flexible as cloth or leather.
As time went on, another kind of metal armor replaced leather and chain
mail. This armor was made of solid metal and fit the shape of a knight's body. Movable joints were fastened to
the armor at the elbows, knees, hips, and ankles, allowing the limbs to move normally. Mounted on a horse, a
knight fully covered in metal armor was the "armored tank" of the Middle Ages.
Although this heavy metal armor could protect a mounted knight from the weapons of foot soldiers, it was
awkward to wear. Sometimes the armor weighed as much as 100 pounds. A knight needed help from his
squires to put on the armor. Then, wearing the armor, the knight had to be lifted onto his horse with a device
similar to a crane. If a heavily armored knight was knocked off his horse, he lay sprawled on the ground, as
helpless as a turtle on its back, unable to turn over or defend him.
Armor was very expensive and took a long time to make. Only the richest knights and kings could afford to
have a suit of armor. In some cases the armor was worn only in ceremonies so that a knight could display his
power, wealth, and strength. By the early 1400s fewer and fewer soldiers wore armor. The armored knight had
become too heavy, too slow, too expensive to equip, and too easy to defeat.
Think Beyond: What do you think it would be like to wear a suit of metal armor?
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SECTION 3
The Church in the Middle Ages
Key Words
Monks
Clergy
Cathedrals
monasteries
parchment
Paris
nuns
Romanesque
Chartres
convents
Gothic
1. What contributions did the Christian Church make to life in the Middle Ages?
2. What role did the Christian Church play in European politics?
3. How did different groups in a town contribute to building large churches?
Every morning, noon, and evening, church bells rang over the villages of Europe. They summoned
people to prayer. The bells became a way to tell people when to worship and when to work. They rang in a
different way and much longer on Sunday or when there was an attack. If enemies were sighted, the bells
called families in the distant fields to safety behind the walls of the manor. The unity of Europe under
the Roman Empire was replaced during the Middle Ages by a wider unity under the Christian Church.
The idea of "Christendom"—the community of all Christians—was very important to the people of the
time.
Monks, Nuns, and Priests
Christian unity was spread by men and women who gave their lives to
religion. The religious life attracted people during the Middle Ages for
different reasons. The Church was the only place where someone could get
an education, for example. It was also one of the few places in which a
peasant might escape a dreary life and even rise to power.
Some religious workers lived together in special communities. The men who
did so were called monks. Their communities were monasteries. The
women, who were called nuns, lived in convents. Together with other
religious workers monks and nuns made up the clergy. A monastery or
convent was like a small village. It had workshops, flower and vegetable
gardens, pens for livestock, and places for sleeping, eating, and praying.
Monasteries and convents often owned surrounding lands farmed by peasants and serfs just as feudal
lords did.
Many monasteries and convents had libraries and places for making books. Workers copied books by
hand onto parchment, a paper like material made from sheepskin. They decorated the pages with tiny
paintings. Copying a book of average length took three or four months. The Bible might take a year or
more. Most books copied by monks and nuns were religious works. However, they also preserved some
Greek and Roman writings.
Monks and nuns helped their neighbors in many ways. Some ran hospitals or orphanages. Some gave
travelers food and a place to sleep. Some taught school. Some left their communities and spread the
Christian religion to distant lands. Not all religious workers lived in their own communities, however.
Priests and their helpers lived among villagers and took care of the local churches.
The Christian Church of the Middle Ages was a worldly power as well as a religious power. It could
crown kings, as Pope Leo III did with Charlemagne. It could send men to war, as Pope Urban II did when
he started the first Crusade. High church officials often owned as much land as the richest noble families.
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Sometimes church leaders and kings or nobles helped each other. Sometimes they were bitter rivals. In
addition, Church leaders in Rome frequently disagreed with those in Constantinople. These rivalries
weakened the Christian unity that the monks, nuns, and priests tried to maintain.
Cathedrals
Because religion was so important to the people of the
Middle Ages, most art dealt with religious subjects. The best
art decorated the churches themselves.
From the ninth to the twelfth centuries, churches were built
in a style of architecture called Romanesque. Romanesque
churches featured round-topped arches like those in Roman
buildings. The thick walls and small windows of these
churches made them seem dark inside. However, they were
often beautifully decorated with paintings and with gold
objects covered with jewels.
New wealth, religious devotion, and town pride contributed to the building of great churches called
cathedrals. Many thirteenth-century cathedrals were built in a new style, called Gothic. The arches in a
Gothic cathedral were pointed on top rather than rounded. New ways of supporting the cathedral's heavy
roof left large parts of its walls open for glass windows. Large, triple doors welcomed passersby.
Gothic cathedrals such as those in Paris and Chartres, France, may be the finest achievements of art in the
Middle Ages. The cathedrals' tall stone towers and pointed arches reach toward the sky like praying hands.
Their stained-glass windows show stories from the Bible in jewel like reds, blues, and gold. Wood and
stone carvings decorate every space.
Building a cathedral took many years. Almost everyone in town worked on it. The best architects and
artists designed it. Nobles and rich merchants helped pay for it. Poor people gave their labor. They made
long trips to the building site with carts and wheelbarrows loaded with stones. When the cathedral was
finished, the whole town took pride in it.
READING CHECK
1. List three ways members of religious communities helped other people in the Middle Ages.
2. With whom did Church leaders in Rome sometimes disagree?
3. What were the two main styles of architecture used in building churches during the Middle Ages?
Think Beyond
Do you think the Church was more important during the Middle Ages than it is today?
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SECTION 4: THE GROWTH OF CITIES
Look for these important words:
Key Words
Charter
Master
Flanders
guilds
plague
King John
apprentice
nation-states
journeyman
Magna Carta
1. How did improvements in trade lead to growth of cities in the Middle Ages?
2. How were craft workers trained in the cities?
3. How did government change in Europe in the late Middle Ages?
The Growth of Cities
Very little travel or long-distance trade took place during the early Middle Ages. The old Roman roads
were in disrepair and overrun by bandits. People usually could not spare enough goods for trade. When
they did trade, it was by direct exchange of goods. The coins of the Roman Empire had gone out of use.
Many towns that had prospered in Roman times were nearly deserted during the early Middle Ages.
Almost everyone had to live on farms in order to grow enough food. Around the year 1000 the economy
began to improve. People grew more food. Travel became safer. By the thirteenth century coins were used
again. Large fairs in the countryside attracted many people who came to sell and to trade their goods.
As merchants traveled more, groups of them began to look for safe places on or near their trade routes to
spend the winters. They chose spots that had castles for defense. Villages favored by the merchants grew
into towns. Slowly the towns grew into cities.
Many people besides merchants were eager to live in the new towns. Craft workers came hoping to find a
wider market for their skills. Serfs came, too, fleeing from the hard life of the manor. A law of that time
said that a serf who escaped and managed to live hidden in a town for a year and a day was free of all
feudal duties.
At first, each town was controlled by the lord who owned the land on which it sat. As merchants grew
more powerful, however, they demanded the right to govern their own towns. They forced the lords to
give them a document called a charter. A charter granted a town the right to self-government.
Townspeople elected officials to a council. The town council taxed trade and provided services for the
poor, sick, and homeless. Every town also had its own laws, which were strictly enforced
Life in a City
Most cities in the late Middle Ages were crowded, unhealthy places. Wooden buildings were several
stories above narrow streets full of people, animals, and garbage.
Even so, life in the city could be exciting. In one part of the city, the sounds of hammering filled the air
and the skeleton of a half-finished cathedral rose against the sky. In another part, students strolled, talking
about law or medicine with their teachers. In the marketplace, shopkeepers sold wool cloth from Flanders.
Flanders was a small country that included parts of what is now France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Shops in the marketplace also contained leather goods from Spain and spices and silks from the east.
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In these growing cities people opened their eyes and ears to the products and ideas of the world. Above
all, the city of the thirteenth century belonged to the merchants. They became a new "middle class"
between nobles and peasants. Many merchants were actually richer than most nobles. The richest
merchants usually formed the town council that governed the city.
Merchants often formed groups called guilds. A merchant's guild helped protect its members when they
were traveling. It bargained with local lords about rents and taxes. Later, craft workers also organized
guilds. A large city was likely to have guilds for bakers, weavers, glassblowers, and many other craft
workers. The guilds set the prices that their members could charge. Guild inspectors made sure members'
work met certain standards of quality. Workers had to belong to the guilds in order to practice their crafts
in the city.
Craft guilds also trained new workers. A young person began as an apprentice in a master’s shop.-Like
pages in a noble's court; apprentices ran errands and did chores. Meanwhile they learned the skills of their
trade.
An apprentice had to stay in the same shop
for a certain number of years. Then he
became a journeyman, or day worker. He
could hire himself out to other shops for
daily wages. As a journeyman he learned
advanced skills. Finally the journeyman
became a master. He produced a fine work
that showed all he had learned. The guild
had to approve this "masterwork" before
the craft worker could set up a shop.
Guilds helped to ensure quality work. They
also gave people a chance to succeed through ability rather than wealth or parentage. However, they
discouraged their members from competing or looking for better ways to do things. Toward the end of the
Middle Ages, many craftspeople broke free of the guilds.
Another kind of guild grew into a new place of learning—the university. Guilds of students and teachers
began to appear in the twelfth century. At first, students heard lectures in town squares, in rented rooms,
and even in sheds. Later, universities had their own buildings. The universities were part of a new feeling
about learning. As in ancient Greece, the idea that people should explore the world of knowledge became
popular.
Disaster and Change
In the fourteenth century, disaster struck the thriving society of Europe. A widespread sickness called the
plague, or "Black Death," appeared in the late 1340s. So many people died of the plague that their bodies
had to be hauled away in carts and buried in mass graves. The plague killed between one-fourth and one
half of the people in Europe.
The few farm workers who survived the plague realized that their skills were greatly needed. They
demanded the right to leave their land and go where they would be paid the most. They insisted on fairer
treatment from the nobles who controlled their lives. Sometimes they emphasized their demands with
revolts.
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Some people became dissatisfied with the Church as well as with feudal society. Competition for power
between kings and Church leaders shocked many people. Others were frightened because the Church
had not been able to stop the plague.
The Rise of Nation-States
Governments were changing, too. Beginning in the twelfth century, strong kings began to take power
away from the nobles, especially in England, France, and Spain. Nation-states began appearing in
many parts of Europe. Each nation-state had a strong central government with a single ruler. Sometimes
the ruler had to share power with a governing body representing the people. Each nation-state had a
system of written laws, paid government officials, and a permanent army.
The people of each nation-state began to think of themselves as members of a single country. They usually
shared the same language and culture. They felt pride in their nation. They would go to war to defend its
honor or to prove its superiority.
Merchants and other members of the middle class supported the governments of the nation-states. They
needed peace and strong government so they could safely carry on trade. The rulers of the nation-states, in
turn, usually encouraged the merchants. They needed the money that taxes on trade and business brought.
Naturally, the nobles resisted their loss of power. In England, for example, they found ways to limit the
king's growing power. They outlined these limits in the English document called the Magna Carta, or
"Great Charter."
Powerful nobles forced King John to sign this English document in 1215. The nobles were interested only
in protecting their own rights. However, some parts of the Magna Carta became the basis of laws that
protected the rights of everyone down to the lowliest peasant. One part, for example, established the right
to trial by jury. The Magna Carta stated that everyone, including the king, was governed by the laws of the
land. The Middle Ages was a time of great change in Europe. Cities and new kinds of government arose
during this time. Toward its end, the Middle Ages gave birth to ideas, inventions, and forms of society that
would shape the modern world. You will read more about these changes in the next chapter.
READING CHECK
1. How did trade affect the growth of cities?
2. What group formed the middle class in the new cities?
3. What sickness struck Europe in the late 1340s?
Think Beyond: Why do you think many people supported the growth of nation-state?
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THINKING BACK
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After the fall of Rome, Germanic chieftains ruled Europe. Charlemagne, king of the Franks, was
crowned ruler of the Holy Romans Empire.
Crusaders tried to free the Holy Land from the Turks. Muslim culture changed European thinking.
Under the Feudal system, vassals received land in return for loyalty and military aid.
For most people life in farming villages meant hard work. Some lords built castles for protection.
The Church unified Europe during the Middle Ages. Many towns built magnificent cathedrals as
symbols of their religious devotion.
The economy improved as merchants traveled and traded again and villages
grew into cities. Craft guilds set prices, inspected members' work, and trained apprentices and
journeymen to become masters.
The feudal system weakened as nation-states with strong central governments emerged. In England
the Magna Carta limited the king's power.
Check for Understanding Using Words
Write the definition of the words below. Use each word in a sentence.
Apprentice
feudalism
charter
guilds
chivalry
nation states
clergy
crusaders
serfs
plague
Reviewing Facts
1. What steps did Charlemagne take to improve education and government in his empire?
2. What effect did the Crusades have on European trade?
3. List these groups in order of importance: vassals, nobles, kings, serfs.
4. How did people living on a manor provide for their needs?
5. Describe how each parts of a castle was used: keep, courtyard, moat, and drawbridge.
6. Why were people attracted to the religious life during the Middle Ages?
7. What were the great churches of the Middle Ages called? Who built them?
8. What changes during the Middle Ages made the growth of cities possible and improved the
economy?
9. List three duties of the craft guilds.
10. What document limited the power of English kings?
Thinking Critically
1. Describe the training of a knight, and of a craft worker. In what ways were these
two kinds of training alike? How are some people trained for jobs today?
2. Manors, monasteries, and convents were self-sufficient during the Middle Ages. Self-sufficient
means that the people were able to grow or make everything they needed. What are the advantages
and disadvantages of this way of life?
Writing About It
Imagine that you are a shopkeeper and have just received a supply of a new product brought from the east
by the crusaders. Write an advertisement for the product. The product could be a new spice or new silk
clothing, for example.
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